1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to wheeled vehicles such as cars, trucks, tractors and buses and in particular to a system for supplying oxygen-enriched air to the passenger compartments in such vehicles. The system may alternatively generate oxygen from water using electricity from the vehicle""s alternator or generator, use oxygen from an oxygen storage tank(s), or use oxygen enriched air which is produced by membrane filtration. The system may optionally include a regulator for regulating the oxygen or oxygen-enriched air that is fed to the passenger compartment to maintain the oxygen content of the air in the compartment within an optimum range. This invention further includes a blower, fan, compressor or the like for increasing the air pressure in the passenger compartment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many vehicular accidents are caused every year by drivers falling asleep at the wheel of their vehicles. Long hours at the wheel, the monotony of driving, and other factors result in drowsiness and accidents or near misses. Some experts have opined that more vehicular accidents are caused by sleepy drivers than by drunken drivers.
Drivers attempt to stay awake by drinking coffee, taking caffeine pills, opening the car windows, and playing the car radio loudly, among other things. Laws have been enacted that limit the hours that truckers and bus drivers can drive so as to minimize accidents caused by drowsiness. Numerous inventions have also been made for detecting drowsiness in a driver and setting off an alarm to rouse the driver. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,725,824; 4,728,939; 4,953,111; and 5,729,619. However, none of these things has been effective to significantly reduce the number of accidents caused by sleepy drivers.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is well known for treatment of decompression sickness as well as a variety of other ailments such as ulcers, carbon monoxide poisoning, bums, sickle cell anemia, and numerous other conditions. Such therapy typically involves the use of pure oxygen and pressures of up to two or three atmospheres of pressure. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,904. It is also known to use hyperbaric chambers to improve the athletic performance of people who live at altitudes above sea level as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,678. That patent discloses a portable hyperbaric chamber in which the air pressure is maintained at about 0.2 to 10 psi above ambient air pressure.
An improved system is needed for reducing drowsiness of drivers and 1reducing accidents caused by sleepy drivers.
The present invention increases alertness of drivers of wheeled vehicles so as to reduce the number of accidents caused by drowsy drivers. The invention also makes drivers and passengers in wheeled vehicles more alert and feel better by improving the percentage of oxygen in the passenger compartments of wheeled vehicles.
The oxygen content of air that people breathe is generally about 21 percent by volume (about 23% by weight) depending on location and ambient conditions. The oxygen content of most ambient air has decreased slightly during the last couple of centuries. This may be a result of reductions in plant life and/or increases in the use of fossil fuels, among other factors. The oxygen content in some places such as office buildings, buses, cars and other closed or partially closed compartments is usually less than the oxygen content of outside air.
This invention may include an electrolyzing system for evolving gaseous oxygen from water and feeding the oxygen into the passenger compartment of a wheeled vehicle, may use oxygen from a storage tank or tanks carried by the vehicle, or may include a membrane system to produce oxygen-enriched air which is fed into the passenger compartment. The invention may optionally detect the oxygen content of the air in the passenger compartment and controls the oxygen supply to regulate the oxygen flow into the compartment. The system can be set to flow oxygen-enriched air into the compartment if the percent of oxygen-enriched air in the compartment falls to or below a preselected value and shut off the supply of oxygen when the oxygen content rises to a preselected value. The system may also include a blower, compressor or the like for increasing the air pressure in the passenger compartment. It may also include a diluter to reduce the concentration of the oxygen that is supplied into the passenger compartment. As used herein, the phrase xe2x80x9cwheeled vehiclexe2x80x9d is used to mean a vehicle that operates mainly on land and has wheels on it for supporting and propelling the vehicle.
The optimum percent of oxygen in the passenger compartment for reduced drowsiness and increased alertness need be only a few percent above the percent of oxygen in ambient air. It is believed that raising the percent oxygen to a range of about 23-25% by volume can substantially increase the alertness of people breathing the air. It is desirable to keep the oxygen content in the passenger compartment from exceeding approximately 25% by volume to avoid a possible risk of fire hazard in the compartment. This invention increases the air pressure in the passenger compartment to at least about 1-5 psi above ambient to increase utilization of the oxygen by the driver and/or passenger in the vehicle.
This invention provides a convenient and inexpensive system for providing a small increase in the oxygen content of air in passenger compartments. The invention provides a system that helps drivers and passengers remain alert and maintain well-being. This invention reduces drowsiness of drivers and reduces accidents caused by drowsiness.
The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will be more fully understood and appreciated by reference to the following description and the drawings which form a part hereof